Are you concerned about the medical history of your spouse's family

@tjades (3590)
Jamaica
April 28, 2008 12:10pm CST
I am conscious of my own family's medical history. The things present in my family are cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Diabetes and cancer do not seem to be so widespread as so far the only person to be affected are: My grandmother and an uncle with diabetes. My grandmother and an aunt with cancer. My father with heart disease. (This is the only condition from paternal side and he is the only one whose had the it in his family as far as I have ascertained) My concern comes in when selecting a partner whose family may have a high risk history with any of these conditions. That may mean a higher exposure risk to our children. It is similar in the case of two persons with the sicklecell trait having a child who is a full blown sickler. I may even add asthma to the list as my nephew has it and all indications seems to be that he got it from his mom who only showed minor symptoms as a child and was never fully diagnosed. It is importnt to me to have prior knowledge so that we are not caught unawares should any of our children start developing any of the conditions they are predisposed to by inheritance. We were certainly surprised about the asthma as my nephew was the first and only to have this conditon and only now has mom told us of my sister's asthma like conditions when she was a child. I spend time educating myself about these conditions and think its important that the family be educated about them as well. Does any of this matter to you when planning a family?
1 response
• Philippines
12 May 08
Yes I believe knowing your spouse's family's medical history is important. There are certain life-threatening diseases that can easily be passed to the next generation. Examples would be hypertension and diabetes. So it is alright that you should worry about things like this.